Page 104 of Burned

Lucian’s eyes do not leave mine. “Eat.”

I stab a piece of egg with my fork and hold his gaze while putting it into my mouth.

His expression shifts.

Not much.

Enough.

I swallow. “Happy?”

“No.”

“Shocking.”

Ryan appears in the doorway. The same Spider-Man sweat suit he wears every day.

We wash it while he sleeps. He has a T-Rex in one hand, his fingers wrapped around the neck of a brontosaurus in the other. “Why isn’t Uncle Lucian happy?”

Every adult in the kitchen stills.

Lucian looks at Ryan.

A strange thing happens to his face then. The hard edges remain, but something gentler moves underneath them. Not softness, exactly. Lucian does not soften so much as redirect his intensity toward not terrifying children.

“I’m not unhappy,” he says. “I’m working. And taking care of your Auntie Rin is a big job.”

Ryan nods solemnly. “And you’re her boss.”

Cass coughs into her mug.

Gregory adjusts his glasses.

Narrowing my eyes, I press my lips together, daring Lucian to confirm.

Lucian inclines his head, opting not to speak.

He’s really growing.

Bayne comes into the room. “Has she eaten?”

“Yes, she has,” I say.

“Everything is loaded. The men are ready.” He gives a pointed stare at Lucian who had insisted we eat something before we board the private jets that will take us to our new destination.

“Let’s go.” He looks around the table. “You three are to stay as close to me as humanly possible.”

And Isobel? Where does she go?

I’m relieved when a set of guards comes to usher her outside.

I’m annoyed that she’s coming.

She is still in love with him. You can read it on her face. Not that we need to.

She was bold enough to profess it to a room full of people.

The three-hour plane ride is not good for me. She sits apart from us, but where I can see her in all of her quiet elegance.